Confession Time!

I have a confession to make – I think I’m burnt out on couponing. I have a huge stack of uncut coupons lying next to my binder that I keep trying to avoid. The thought of spending several hours cutting coupons, weeding out expired ones from my binder, and getting the new ones in there just wears me out thinking about it! I’m hoping it’s just a phase I’m going through. I have been super busy working on growing my financial coaching and writing business. I’m definitely not burnt out on Meal Planning! In fact, I’ve kicked that up a notch since my schedule’s been hectic. Has anyone else besides me suffered from a case of “couponing burnout”?

I think it started when Kroger, and then Meijer, quit doubling coupons earlier this year. I definitely shop at both stores MUCH LESS since they’ve stopped doubling coupons. Because of this, my shopping habits have changed quite a bit. I shop at Sam’s Club at least once a month for certain items that I can’t get cheaper anywhere else –with or without coupons. For our family, that means buying things like cat litter, whole bean coffee, meats (both fresh and frozen), string cheese, turkey sausage patties, kitchen garbage bags, among other things. I’m also buying almost 100% of my fresh fruits and veggies at my members-only produce co-op. Sam’s doesn’t accept paper coupons (but has some electronic coupons available to members) and of course, neither does the co-op. Because of the great prices, this really isn’t an issue.

I notice that I am using electronic coupons more than paper ones for the first time ever. This certainly is due to the change in double coupon policies. In the past, if you had an electronic coupon on your Kroger card or Meijer M-Perks account, it wouldn’t be doubled. So it made sense to use a paper coupon – which would be doubled – instead. Now, there’s no real advantage to using a paper coupon unless it’s a higher face value.

I’m also using coupons for Kohl’s, Ulta, Hobby Lobby, and Target on my phone. The nice thing about having these mobile coupons is that they’re always with you. I never leave home without my phone, and you probably don’t either. But I have left home without my coupons, which is supremely frustrating! And of course, I ALWAYS use a coupon code when shopping online and use my favorite cash-back shopping site, FatWallet.com!

I do still shop at Kroger and Meijer when there are good sales going on – which both do this week! Meijer is running their 10 for $10 Get the 11th Free sale, plus Kroger is having a Mega Sale – Buy 10 Participating Items, Get $5 Off. So I will be hitting up both of them this week.

So maybe I don’t have couponing burnout – maybe it’s just “paper couponing burnout”! Just curious, have your couponing habits changed and evolved over time, especially with the demise of double coupons?

Money is Emotional!

Coming Soon! Available on Amazon on March 21, 2017. Click here for more information and to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.

Comments

I am completely burnt out! I have the same stack you do, about 4-5 weeks worth, and have no intention of clipping. I don’t look at the ad’s hardly at all anymore. I have just been so busy, I don’t have the time nor the patience to mess with it! thanks for letting me know I wasn’t the only one out there!

I live in a city with only three groceries and not one of then doubles or triples coupons. I am happy when I save $10-30.00 which is not much, yet still a lot. It is so frustrating, though, so I can understand how you would feel burned out!

I really was upset I never started when I saw how much people were saving money. Now I don’t see too many people give coupons at the store anymore. I do most of my shopping at costco and they don’t use coupons.

I had a binder that looked just like that. I used to coupon all the time and got burned out. I also started shopping at Aldis where I am spending the same I did with coupons. And because of our restrictive new diet coupons dont generally cover what we buy

My coupon use has definitely changed over the last couple of years. I definitely became more busy and had less time to keep organized with it all. I am just starting to try to do it more moderately now.. wish me luck!

Not sure if it’s just me, but couponing doesn’t seem to be much of a thing here in Canada either… I do have cards though, for each supermarket, where as a member one is entitled to weekly sales and features.

I used to coupon a lot, but after all the hours it takes to get organized and find the great coupons, as well as cashiers not ringing some up or refusing to accept them, it just got too stressful. Now, we shop at Sam’s Club, go to flea markets and buy off Amazon. I don’t always save as much, but it’s far less time consuming and stressful to me.